Sebastien Tellier Copycat

Compost is one of the most prolific, highly acclaimed and in demand indie labels in Europe. Compost and it's sublabels Compost Black Label and Drumpoet Community standing for quality music, a sophisticated mixture of electrifying disco, house, techno, soul, jazz and a little bit of pop.

In late February 1653, just after the Fronde rebellion, the most influential spectacle of the early reign of Louis XIV was created at the Louvre: the Ballet Royal de la Nuit. Grandiose, and carefully elaborated at the highest levels of the state, the libretto by Bensérade called upon the finest artists of the time. Banishing the troubles of Night, Louis XIV danced in the Sun King costume that would henceforth be for ever associated with him. An indispensable world premiere recording!

"Each of the pieces in this programme is like an ephemeral castle that I can take refuge in when I feel like it," says Sébastien Llinares. Here, the French guitarist, who stands at the crossroads of classical, jazz and contemporary music and also produces the programme Guitare, guitares on France Musique, puts his playing at the service of every kind of music. Jimi Hendrix's Castles Made Of Sand was the inspiration for this programme; Sébastien Llinares hears in it the unchanging open string that the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos so often used. His journey continues with tributes to famous songs by Bernstein, Gershwin and Rodgers & Hart, an evocation of Rufus Wainwright and Baden Powell in the forms of the Habanera and Bossa Nova — not forgetting a tribute to Django by John Lewis as well as Leonard Cohen's eternal Hallelujah, which takes on the air of an ancient canario when played on the classical guitar. Two bagatelles and an impromptu composed by Llinares himself complete the family portrait.

Donizetti considered Dom Sébastien, Roi de Portugal (1843), his final completed opera written for the Paris Opéra, to be his masterpiece. In spite of its relative obscurity, on the basis of this recording, one is inclined to agree with him. The opera has several attributes that in the past have proved to be obstacles to its popularity. The first is its length – it's in five substantial acts and lasts three hours, but that's not so onerous for contemporary audiences accustomed to Wagner and Strauss. Besides, the composer created an abbreviated version for Viennese audiences, who at that time wanted to be out of the theater by 10 p.m., and that version could be used if necessary.

Un rayon de soleil traverse l’azur du petit matin et réchauffe le cœur d’une douce caresse… Dès le premier mouvement (largo) du Trio en la Majeur, Sébastien Marq expose son jeu doux et velouté, léger et transcendant. Et l’on s’émerveille, béat, devant la beauté du son, la justesse des sentiments, et ce toucher si délicat qui vous berce et vous emmène dans un jardin d’Eden. Le voyage s’achève sur quatre mêmes notes, plus suaves et doucereuses que les précédentes.

Sébastien Jarrousse présente aujourd'hui son deuxième album en 4tet : «Old Fellow», un album très attendu, après «Wait and See» en 2012, qui a ouvert la voie à un renouvellement du genre hard bop libérant le style «Jarrousse» sensible et plus actuel que jamais. Dans cette optique libératrice d'univers déjà conquis et en perpétuelle évolution, ce n'est pas un hasard si Sébastien a pensé à inviter Magic Malik qui nous emmène encore plus loin avec sa flûte magique. Avec ce nouvel album, Sébastien Jarrousse est resté fidèle à ses «Old Fellows». Sébastien a toujours admiré les têtes chercheuses, les esprits inventifs et révolutionnaires comme John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Tommy Smith, Dave Liebman, Gary Thomas, Brandford Marsalis et tant d’autres…